Fall 2021 Summary – Week 13

Wooper: Happy New Year, everyone! This is both our final post of 2021 and one of my last solo posts ever, as my semi-retirement from blogging begins today. I’ll still be lending a hand on bigger projects at the start and end of each season, but I’m leaving episodic reviews and the weekly recap behind in favor of, well, not writing about anime as often. But enough about that – read on to learn how the usual second-tier suspects performed just before the year turned over. I wish you all a safe and successful 2022! See you on the other side.

Super Crooks – 11-13

That was more like it! I found these episodes to be more enjoyable and efficient than much of Super Crooks’ other heist-related material. The swiftness with which it assembled the team of villains was much appreciated, as was the wise choice to portray Kasey’s dissatisfaction with civilian life (which would be crucial in setting up the finale’s big reversal). The Gladiator wasn’t exactly a standout addition to the crew, but I really liked the scene where he smoked a cig while The Praetorian went to town on everyone else – a fitting move for a man who was blackmailed into working alongside his enemies. (Their fight scene was pretty cool too, especially the cut of Praetorian launching himself down a hallway.) Characters were a bit sharper during this last arc overall, owing to the time they spent bonding and butting heads before the mission kicked into high gear in episode 12. If there was a weakness here, it might be that the show didn’t lean into the absurdity of its plot with sufficient enthusiasm. There was some really dumb stuff in these episodes: a time machine investment pitch, a death ninja squad (that the temporarily powerless villains managed to hold off for far too long), a Harry Potter-style suitcase that was bigger inside than out, etc. Not a big issue that the show placed its focus elsewhere, though, since Kasey’s psychic victory over The Bastard was the sort of nifty twist that makes everything else go down smoothly. Based on the bumpiness of this season as a whole, I’m not interested in seeing more of Super Crooks, but at least it left on a strong note.

Komi-san wa, Komyushou desu – 11-12

When your TV show’s premise is “there’s a character who can’t talk,” you should probably avoid stretching a single story across more than one episode, because there’s a limited number of ways you can mine laughs from that gimmick. For these final episodes (of season one, anyway), Komi-san tossed that piece of logic in the trash and doubled up on its cultural festival plot, and the result was almost purely comedic in nature. I figured we might get a more serious look at Komi’s anxiety or her friendship with Tadano at the very end, especially since the two cultural festival episodes could be split between humor and pathos. But even scenes like Class 1-1’s defeat at the end-of-festival awards or the subsequent student dance had big ‘Please Laugh Now’ asterisks attached. That go-for-broke approach isn’t always a bad thing, but in this case it undersold the show’s ability to create breakthrough moments like the ones we saw early in its run. And after a raucous karaoke segment to close out 2021 (featuring some of the series’ most hyperactive direction all year), we got a post-ED message saying the show was dedicated to people who struggle to communicate? Maybe I’m wrong to feel a disconnect there, but I certainly felt more sympathy coming from Komi-san in previous months than in this finale. At least we got plenty of Tadano in a maid outfit, though?

Aggretsuko S4 – 6-10

I’ve enjoyed every season of Aggressive Retsuko thus far, but this one has to be my least favorite. A lot of that feeling is due to the law of diminishing returns, I’m sure, but season 4’s direction played a part as well. Some characters were incorporated into the overarching storyline (which I like to call “Haida Cooks the Books”) in tenuous fashion, which didn’t leave a lot of room to celebrate their reappearances. For example, Retsuko’s recruitment of Director Ton to “help monetize her YouTube channel” was a flimsy excuse to gain his help with the main plot – flimsy on the writers’ end, not Retsuko’s, since her YT-related request preceded her discovery of Haida’s fraud (and went nowhere afterwards). Kabae’s acceptance of her voluntary resignation offer wasn’t nearly the story it could have been, either, as her ultimate decision came far more easily than her earlier anxiety had prepared us for. She was brought back just so the show could earn a giggle with a spy parody, only I was too disappointed to laugh. Ultimately, the point of these reintroductions was to team up and expose Haida’s criminal behavior, but that accomplishment was hardly a factor in the larger goal of President Himuro’s resignation. Retsuko’s screamo beam knocking Himuro through a window was what did the trick, rather than anything Haida said, which had me feeling underwhelmed while reflecting on his arc this season. Aggretsuko’s usual charm could still be found in the majority of these episodes, but its character writing felt a bit too messy for me to call it one of my favorites of the year.